Tag Archives: Whale Museum

Looking back on the various comments that followed the death of
the killer whale named Granny, I realized that there were a couple
of thought-provoking tributes that I never shared with readers of
this blog.

Granny, designated J-2, was believed to be more than 100 years
old, and she was the obvious leader for many of the Southern
Resident orcas that frequent Puget Sound. Granny went missing last
fall and was reported deceased at the end of the year by the Center
for Whale Research. See
Water Ways, Dec. 30.

Some tributes to Granny were written and posted soon after her
death notice, including one by Ken Balcomb of the Center
for Whale Research. I posted my thoughts along with some others in
Water Ways on Jan. 4.

UPDATE, Nov. 24, 2010
Sometimes it takes a vacation to catch up on things. I always
intended to list the new names given by the Whale Museum in this
entry. I’m only two months late, after more than 7,500 votes were
counted. Nevertheless, here are the new names as announced in a
Sept. 15 news release:

J-44: The Whale Museum’s name is “Moby.” Other
alternatives were “Kellett” and “Fin.” Ken Balcomb did not announce
a name for this one.

J-46: “Star” is the name chosen by Ken, and
Whale Museum voters concurred. Other options were “Galaxy” and
“Dubhe.”

L-112: “Sooke” will be the name listed by the
Whale Museum. Ken had already named her Victoria. The Whale Museum
also proposed “ReJoyce” and “Wonder.”

L-113: Ken named her Molly. Whale Museum voters
chose “Cousteau.” “Haro” and “Talise” were other alternatives.

I still have not decided whether to list one or both names in my
stories or simply call them by their alpha-numeric
designations.
—–

Ken Balcomb, who heads the Center for Whale Research on San Juan
Island, has announced new names for six young killer whales that
frequent the Salish Sea.

Balcomb’s names apparently will be different from names chosen
by the Whale Museum, which has traditionally named the orcas. Could
this cause confusion among those interested in whale families?

Since the 1970s, the Center for Whale Research has kept a census
of the whales, designating new calves with a letter for their pod
(J, K or L), along with the next available number in sequence.
Until last year, when Ken named one young orca “Star,” the naming
process was left up to the Whale Museum, based in Friday Harbor.
See
Water Ways, Nov. 19.

By the way, the Whale Museum is currently conducting a public
vote to name four killer whales as part of its Orca Adoption
Program. Check out the
Whale Museum’s site.

Ken told me that people may choose to use his names, or not, as
they wish, but he intends to list the names with their designations
for identification purposes. As he stated in a
blog entry announcing the names:Continue reading →